Before I retire, 1 last post:
Oh yeah, this is how you actually use Darmanitan-Z:
Set Name: “Hot As Ice”
Darmanitan-Zen @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Ice Scales
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Lava Plume
- Entrainment
- Volt Switch
- Strength Sap / Shore Up
- Lava Plume works for strong coverage due to STAB, while letting you Burn foes to weaken their physical damage, add chip damage to them, and covers yours Def stat, since you are using Ice Scales for SpA tankiness.
- Strength Sap also works wonders against Imposter (partner with a Liquid Ooze user), and if you can underspeed SpA sweepers walled by it, you can hit their incoming Atk sweeper.
This is bc when they pivot out, you can heal more off their higher Atk physical sweepers, and reduce their damage simultaneously as they can come in to try and threaten you back.
- Entrainment also works to keep foes switching out, as it makes it so easy to break potential threats on predicted switch-ins, like PHeal Regigigas; or Flash Fire Steels.
Suddenly; their check is vulnerable, and you can slow pivot as they are forced to switch.
- Volt Switch takes advantage of slow Spe, high SpA, good coverage in hitting Pokémon like Ho-oh that would normally force you out anyways, and a way of avoiding those pesky Anchor Shots.
As for its Physical Bulk—Darmanitan-Z has the resistances to survive the strongest and most common physical coverage moves like Glacial Lance, V-Create, Sunsteel Strike, Close Combat, etc.
Its typing is ideal Bc it works in tandem with Ice Scales to absolutely tank the biggest SpA threats like Pixelate Xerneas, Refrigerate Kyurem-W, etc.
Overall:
With low Atk, and even lower Speed, Darmanitan makes an ideal slow pivot that doesn’t attract Strength Sap, and cannot be countered very well by Imposter.
Thanks to its amazing Fire-typing, it can use STAB Lava Plume to burn without fear of Imposter coming in doing the same, (unlike Scald users), and severely underspeeds most foes, so you can safely send in your next teammate.
With perfectly balanced HP, Def, and SpD, Darmanitan-Z is bulky enough to take hits, effective at chipping away at foes via high SpA and % Burns, force switches via Entrainment, and pivot out - while going second, so you can send in the right checks and counters to your foe.
Not only does this specific moveset rack up entry hazard damage thru making your opponent have to switch out, but it keeps the momentum on your side, without sacrificing anything.
My suggestion: Darmanitan-Z is to be ranked B-Tier.
This set proves how much it can accomplish, especially due to its typing and stats in the right places.
Dusknoir, Doublade, or even Aegislash clear Regigigas with Body Press.
252+ Def Doublade Body Press vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Regigigas: 158-188 (37.2 - 44.3%) -- 27.5% chance to 3HKO after Poison Heal
252 Atk Doublade Thunderous Kick vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Regigigas: 130-154 (30.6 - 36.3%) -- 12.6% chance to 4HKO after Poison Heal
Body Press, Spectral Thief, Strength Sap / Recover, Filler are enough to provide good coverage and utility:
Fighting + Ghost is unresisted and Doublade has 110 Atk base to take advantage of it for STAB Spectral, good utility (also Imposter can be Strength Sap’d from hurting you too much with Spectral), and Body Press on Doublade makes so much sense and gives it a reason to hurt other Pokémon, albeit Thundorous Kick is not bad either.
Body Press is not impacted by Strength Sap, which is nice, especially against stuff like Zamazenta-Crowned:
252+ Def Doublade Body Press vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Zamazenta-Crowned: 130-154 (33.5 - 39.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
If you opt for STAB Anchor Shot, in the Filler, you can literally trap, rack up damage with Thunderous Kick weakening their Defense, and stall with Strength Sap and Spectral Thief to keep set-up and physical attackers at bay.
252 SpA Pixilate Xerneas Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Ice Scales Doublade: 55-65 (17 - 20.1%) -- possible 5HKO
Giving it Ice Scales and boosting its utility as a nice switch-in to Xerneas is helpful, but what separates it from other Ghosts is allowing it to use Toxic or Poison Fang without Fear of Imposter, which is something other Ghosts cannot do without fear of Magic Bounce, or being Poisoned via another opponent directly.
The goal is high Defense for Body Press, or STAB Anchor Shot to trap and use Thunderous Kick, and/or Toxic to wear down opponents without being afraid of either move. Eviolite let’s Doublade handle Imposter
Spectral Does good enough neutral damage against some foes in general.
252+ Def Doublade Body Press vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Regigigas: 158-188 (37.2 - 44.3%) -- 27.5% chance to 3HKO after Poison Heal
252 Atk Doublade Thunderous Kick vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Regigigas: 130-154 (30.6 - 36.3%) -- 12.6% chance to 4HKO after Poison Heal
Body Press, Spectral Thief, Strength Sap / Recover, Filler are enough to provide good coverage and utility:
Fighting + Ghost is unresisted and Doublade has 110 Atk base to take advantage of it for STAB Spectral, good utility (also Imposter can be Strength Sap’d from hurting you too much with Spectral), and Body Press on Doublade makes so much sense and gives it a reason to hurt other Pokémon, albeit Thundorous Kick is not bad either.
Body Press is not impacted by Strength Sap, which is nice, especially against stuff like Zamazenta-Crowned:
252+ Def Doublade Body Press vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Zamazenta-Crowned: 130-154 (33.5 - 39.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
If you opt for STAB Anchor Shot, in the Filler, you can literally trap, rack up damage with Thunderous Kick weakening their Defense, and stall with Strength Sap and Spectral Thief to keep set-up and physical attackers at bay.
252 SpA Pixilate Xerneas Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Ice Scales Doublade: 55-65 (17 - 20.1%) -- possible 5HKO
Giving it Ice Scales and boosting its utility as a nice switch-in to Xerneas is helpful, but what separates it from other Ghosts is allowing it to use Toxic or Poison Fang without Fear of Imposter, which is something other Ghosts cannot do without fear of Magic Bounce, or being Poisoned via another opponent directly.
The goal is high Defense for Body Press, or STAB Anchor Shot to trap and use Thunderous Kick, and/or Toxic to wear down opponents without being afraid of either move. Eviolite let’s Doublade handle Imposter
Spectral Does good enough neutral damage against some foes in general.
Set Name: “Hot As Ice”
Darmanitan-Zen @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Ice Scales
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Lava Plume
- Entrainment
- Volt Switch
- Strength Sap / Shore Up
- Lava Plume works for strong coverage due to STAB, while letting you Burn foes to weaken their physical damage, add chip damage to them, and covers yours Def stat, since you are using Ice Scales for SpA tankiness.
- Strength Sap also works wonders against Imposter (partner with a Liquid Ooze user), and if you can underspeed SpA sweepers walled by it, you can hit their incoming Atk sweeper.
This is bc when they pivot out, you can heal more off their higher Atk physical sweepers, and reduce their damage simultaneously as they can come in to try and threaten you back.
- Entrainment also works to keep foes switching out, as it makes it so easy to break potential threats on predicted switch-ins, like PHeal Regigigas; or Flash Fire Steels.
Suddenly; their check is vulnerable, and you can slow pivot as they are forced to switch.
- Volt Switch takes advantage of slow Spe, high SpA, good coverage in hitting Pokémon like Ho-oh that would normally force you out anyways, and a way of avoiding those pesky Anchor Shots.
As for its Physical Bulk—Darmanitan-Z has the resistances to survive the strongest and most common physical coverage moves like Glacial Lance, V-Create, Sunsteel Strike, Close Combat, etc.
Its typing is ideal Bc it works in tandem with Ice Scales to absolutely tank the biggest SpA threats like Pixelate Xerneas, Refrigerate Kyurem-W, etc.
Overall:
With low Atk, and even lower Speed, Darmanitan makes an ideal slow pivot that doesn’t attract Strength Sap, and cannot be countered very well by Imposter.
Thanks to its amazing Fire-typing, it can use STAB Lava Plume to burn without fear of Imposter coming in doing the same, (unlike Scald users), and severely underspeeds most foes, so you can safely send in your next teammate.
With perfectly balanced HP, Def, and SpD, Darmanitan-Z is bulky enough to take hits, effective at chipping away at foes via high SpA and % Burns, force switches via Entrainment, and pivot out - while going second, so you can send in the right checks and counters to your foe.
Not only does this specific moveset rack up entry hazard damage thru making your opponent have to switch out, but it keeps the momentum on your side, without sacrificing anything.
My suggestion: Darmanitan-Z is to be ranked B-Tier.
This set proves how much it can accomplish, especially due to its typing and stats in the right places.
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